Augustan Cohort

In Bible versions:

Augustan Cohort: NET AVS NRSV TEV
Augustus: NET AVS NIV NRSV NASB TEV
His Majesty the Emperor: NET
Caesar: NET AVS NIV NASB TEV
the Imperial Regiment: NIV
emperor: NRSV
Augustan cohort: NASB

an army unit belonging to Emperor Augustus
the Roman emperor named Caesar Augustus who was ruling when Christ was born
an honorary title used for Roman emperors
a title held by Roman emperors

---

increased, augmented

Greek

Strongs #4575: sebastov sebastos

1) reverend, venerable
2) the title of the Roman emperors
2a) Augustan, i,e, taking its name from the emperor
2b) a title of honour which used to be given certain legions, or
cohorts, or battalions, "for valour"

4575 sebastos seb-as-tos'

from 4573; venerable (august), i.e. (as noun) a title of the Roman
Emperor, or (as adjective) imperial:-Augustus(-').
see GREEK for 4573

Strongs #828: Augoustov Augoustos

Augustus = "venerable"

1) the first Roman emperor
2) title conferred upon Roman emperors

828 Augoustos ow'-goos-tos

from Latin ("august"); Augustus, a title of the Roman
emperor:-Augustus.

Strongs #2541: Kaisar Kaisar

Caesar = "severed"

1) the surname of Julius Caesar, which adopted by Octavius Augustus
and his successors afterwards became a title, and was appropriated
by the Roman emperors as part of their title

2541 Kaisar kah'-ee-sar

of Latin origin; Caesar, a title of the Roman emperor:-Caesar.

Augustus [EBD]

the cognomen of the first Roman emperor, C. Julius Caesar Octavianus, during whose reign Christ was born (Luke 2:1). His decree that "all the world should be taxed" was the divinely ordered occasion of Jesus' being born, according to prophecy (Micah 5:2), in Bethlehem. This name being simply a title meaning "majesty" or "venerable," first given to him by the senate (B.C. 27), was borne by succeeding emperors. Before his death (A.D. 14) he associated Tiberius with him in the empire (Luke 3:1), by whom he was succeeded.

Caesar [EBD]

the title assumed by the Roman emperors after Julius Caesar. In the New Testament this title is given to various emperors as sovereigns of Judaea without their accompanying distinctive proper names (John 19:15; Acts 17:7). The Jews paid tribute to Caesar (Matt. 22:17), and all Roman citizens had the right of appeal to him (Acts 25:11). The Caesars referred to in the New Testament are Augustus (Luke 2:1), Tiberius (3:1; 20:22), Claudius (Acts 11:28), and Nero (Acts 25:8; Phil. 4:22).

Augustus [NAVE]

AUGUSTUS, a title of Roman emperors, Luke 2:1; Acts 25:21, 25; 27:1.

Caesar [NAVE]

CAESAR
1. Augustus, Luke 2:1.
2. Tiberius, Luke 3:1; 20:22.
3. Claudius, Acts 11:28.
4. Nero, Phil. 4:22.
See: Appeal To Caesar.

Emperor [NAVE]

EMPEROR
See: Caesar.

AUGUSTUS [SMITH]

(venerable) Cae?sar , the first Roman emperor. He was born A.U.C. 691, B.C. 63. His father was Caius Octavius; his mother Atia, daughter of Julia the sister of C. Julius Caesar. He was principally educated by his great-uncle Julius Caesar, and was made his heir. After his murder, the young Octavius, then Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus, was taken into the triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus, and, after the removal of the latter, divided the empire with Antony. The struggle for the supreme power was terminated in favor of Octavianus by the battle of Actium, B.C. 31. On this victory he was saluted imperator by the senate, who conferred on him the title Augustus, B.C. 27. The first link binding him to New Testament history is his treatment of Herod after the battle of Actium. That prince, who had espoused Antony?s side, found himself pardoned, taken into favor and confirmed, nay even increased, in his power. After Herod?s death, in A.D. 4, Augustus divided his dominions, almost exactly according to his dying directions, among his sons. Augustus died in Nola in Campania, Aug. 19, A.U.C. 767, A.D. 14, in his 76th year; but long before his death he had associated Tiberius with him in the empire.

CAESAR [SMITH]

always in the New Testament the Roman emperor, the sovereign of Judea. (John 19:12,15; Acts 17:7)

AUGUSTUS [ISBE]

AUGUSTUS - o-gus'-tus Augoustos:

(1) The first Roman emperor, and noteworthy in Bible history as the emperor in whose reign the Incarnation took place (Lk 2:1). His original name was Caius Octavius Caepias and he was born in 63 BC, the year of Cicero's consulship. He was the grand-nephew of Julius Caesar, his mother Atia having been the daughter of Julia, Caesar's younger sister. He was only 19 years of age when Caesar was murdered in the Senate house (44 BC), but with a true instinct of statesmanship he steered his course through the intrigues and dangers of the closing years of the republic, and after the battle of Actium was left without a rival. Some difficulty was experienced in finding a name that would exactly define the position of the new ruler of the state. He himself declined the names of rex and dictator, and in 27 BC he was by the decree of the Senate styled Augustus. The epithet implied respect and veneration beyond what is bestowed on human things:

"Sancta vocant augusta patres: augusta vocantur

Templa sacerdotum rite dicata manu."

--Ovid Fasti. 609; compare Dion Cass., 5316

The Greeks rendered the word by Sebastos, literally, "reverend'" Acts 25:21,25). The name was connected by the Romans with augur--"one consecrated by religion"--and also with the verb augere. In this way it came to form one of the German imperial titles "Mehrer des Reichs" (extender of the empire). The length of the reign of Augustus, extending as it did over 44 years from the battle of Actium (31 BC) to his death (14 AD), doubtless contributed much to the settlement and consolidation of the new regime after the troubled times of the civil wars.

It is chiefly through the connection of Judea and Palestine with the Roman Empire that Augustus comes in contact with early Christianity, or rather with the political and religious life of the Jewish people at the time of the birth of Christ: "Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled" (Lk 2:1). During the reign of Herod the Great the government of Palestine was conducted practically without interference from Rome except, of course, as regarded the exaction of the tribute; but on the death of that astute and capable ruler (4 BC) none of his three sons among whom his kingdom was divided showed the capacity of their father. In the year 6 AD the intervention of Augustus was invited by the Jews themselves to provide a remedy for the incapacity of their ruler, Archelaus, who was deposed by the emperor from the rule of Judea; at the same time, while Caesarea was still the center of the Roman administration, a small Roman garrison was stationed permanently in Jerusalem. The city, however, was left to the control of the Jewish Sanhedrin with complete judicial and executive authority except that the death sentence required confirmation by the Roman procurator. There is no reason to believe that Augustus entertained any specially favorable appreciation of Judaism, but from policy he showed himself favorable to the Jews in Palestine and did everything to keep them from feeling the pressure of the Roman yoke. To the Jews of the eastern Diaspora he allowed great privileges. It has even been held that his aim was to render them pro-Rom, as a counterpoise in some degree to the pronounced Hellenism of the East; but in the West autonomous bodies of Jews were never allowed (see Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire, chapter 11).

(2) For Augustus in Acts 25:21,25 the King James Version, see EMPEROR.

J. Hutchison

CAESAR [ISBE]

CAESAR - se'-zar (Kaisar): Originally the surname of the Julian gens (thus, Caius Julius Caesar); afterward a name borne by the Roman emperors. In the New Testament the name is definitely applied to Augustus (Lk 2:1, "Caesar Augustus"), to whom it belonged by adoption, and to Tiberius (Lk 3:1, "Tiberius Caesar"; compare Mt 22:17,21). The "Caesar" to whom Paul appealed (Acts 25:11,12,21) was Nero. The form is perpetuated in "Kaiser" and "Czar."

EMPEROR [ISBE]

EMPEROR - emp'-er-er (ho sebastos; Latin augustus: The title of the Roman emperors; Acts 25:21,25).

See AUGUSTUS; CAESAR.